ST. PAUL- A bill to fully fund hot school lunches for Minnesota children whose families cannot afford reduced-price meals was approved by a full session of the Minnesota House of Representatives today. The House passed the measure unanimously. Rep. Yvonne Selcer (DFL- Minnetonka/Eden Prairie) is the House author of the legislation.
The bill now needs to move forward in the Senate. Governor Dayton has said he supports the bill.
Rep. Selcer voiced optimism about the bill’s passage.
“This bill is the culmination of the work begun last session, and is supported by numerous faith-based and other organizations,” said Rep. Selcer. “This unanimous vote makes the bipartisan statement that no child shall go hungry in a Minnesota school because of an inability to pay.”
The bill calls for $3.5 million of Minnesota’s budget surplus to be used to ensure that all K-12 schools in the state can afford to have a school lunch policy that provides a hot lunch to students on the reduced-price lunch program.
Earlier this week, the bipartisan Childhood Obesity Legislative Working Group, chaired by Rep. Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester) and Rep. Bob Dettmer (R-Forest Lake), added Rep. Selcer’s school lunch bill to its list of legislative recommendations for 2014.
“I am very pleased that the bipartisan Childhood Obesity Working Group endorsed my bill to provide free lunch to those students who now qualify for reduced lunch,” said Rep. Selcer. “Children who skip lunch are more likely to overeat once they get home. Children who are hungry also cannot learn; and lower income status is highly correlated to the achievement gap, which must be eliminated. Under Governor Pawlenty’s administration, children who qualify for reduced lunch were made eligible for a free breakfast. Passage of my bill will guarantee that these same children will receive two nutritious meals each school day.”